Co-pilot hijacks plane, demands asylum

posted by Newser Editors, Newser Staff
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2 years ago

(NEWSER) – An Ethiopian Airlines plane was hijacked early today by its own co-pilot, who was seeking asylum in Switzerland. The co-pilot locked himself in the cockpit when the pilot went to the toilet, and flew the Boeing 767-300—which had taken off from Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and was headed to Rome—to Geneva, where it landed at about 6am local time. No one onboard was injured in the incident—in fact, none of the 202 passengers realized the plane had been hijacked, despite the fact that two Italian fighter jets were scrambled to accompany it, the AP reports. As the plane circled Geneva's airspace before eventually landing, the hijacker told the control tower, "You have to give us lastly permission on board for asylum," CNNreports.